Private Pepys or What He Did When He Was Not Working
In his liesure, aside from philandering (click here to read about Pepys's Privates) and writing his diary, Pepys enjoyed plays and music.
How often did he go to the theatre?
Tanner says,
During the nine years and five months of the Diary he went... 351 times and, as Sir Sidney Lee pointed out, these figures are affected by the fact that 'for more than twelve months of that period the London playhouses were for the most part closed, owing to the Great Plague and the Fire.
(130)
He went 351 times in nine years, minus roughly one year due to the theatre not being open; that is 351 times in 96 months; 351/96 = 3.65625.
Pepys went to the theatre exactly 3.65625 times a month while they were open!
What did Pepys see?
In "Mr. Pepys Is Not Amused," Hazelton Spencer says, "nearly one in eight [of the plays] was... Shakespeare" (176).
Was Pepys a connoisseur?
Most critics think not. Tanner says,
Pepys represents the average playgoer. His appreciation is of a play is much affected by things not really relevant to it... the comfort of his seat, the prettiness of the actresses, and the freedom of his mind form domestic and business cares.
(133)
Hazelton Spencer argues this point. He says, once when Pepys went to see Twelfth Night it,
seems likely, the romantic plot was either omitted or pared to the bone, [and] a good deal of buffoonery was doubtless added.
It is precisely at this point that we find Pepys far from being 'a typical Restoration playgoer'... [The production was called, by others,] a 'mighty success'... It is probably to Pepys's credit that he found it silly.
I have no desire to whitewash him. But he was certainly a much better Shakespearean than he has been painted.
(176)
It is difficult to judge whether or not Pepys was an astute critic. If he was reading the texts instead of viewing them, then it would be a simpler case to judge. But plays are affected by outside forces, including the "the comfort of his seat, the prettiness of the actresses, and the freedom of his mind form domestic and business cares" (Tanner 133), but more importantly the stage production and the acting. The version of Twelfth Night he saw seems to have been inferior, but it cannot be viewed and judged as it was when Pepys saw it.
How much did Pepys enjoy music?
"Musique is the thing of the world that I love most" (Tanner 122), he said.
I "could live and die in it" (Tanner 122), he said.
"I could not believe that ever any musick hath that real command over the soul of a man as this [music from the Virgin Martyr] did upon me" (Tanner 123), he said.
Where did Pepys enjoy music?
Alone at home, at church, and at the taverns. "One of the diarist's chief musical pleasures was singing in the company of friends" (123), says Tanner.
Did he create any of his own music?
Trease says, Pepys "was able , with immense satisfaction, to set down a song or two of his own making, 'Gaze not on swans' and 'Beuty retire', the latter to some lines from Davenant's Siege of Rhodes" (67).